Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in Belarus started (+VIDEO)

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported later that the Russian Armed Forces were not delivering strikes against Ukrainian cities. The ministry emphasized that the Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed by precision weapons and there was no threat to civilians.

The West imposed sanctions on Russia, aimed at cutting off its largest banks and preventing the country from importing critical technology. A string of European countries including Germany, Finland, Norway, France, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and Iceland have said they are preparing to close their airspace to Russian planes, mirroring measures already taken by other states on the continent.

The UK, Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania, as well as Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, have also moved to shutter their airspace to Russian planes.

According to Russia's TASS news agency, talks between Ukraine and Russia are due to begin on Monday morning near the Belarusian border.

Here are all the latest updates: